Take a shot, keep the glass?

Sosie couldn't resist a stop at "Fat Stan's Lounge" in Ketchikan, Alaska, to buy a souvenir for her brother. Trouble is, when she came here two weeks ago, she forgot to bring it. So, as the saying goes: "My sister went to Alaska and all I got was this picture."

We checked the Internet for references to the namesake lounge and the first thing we got was an amusing directive to "Avoid Fat Stan's." Realizing you can see anything on the internet, we hope Sosie checked her change when she bought the shot. :)

Avoid Fat Stan's

Jul 26, 2009, 7:05 PM

TOURISTS BEWARE!!! Count your change very carefully. Fat Stan's WILL rip you off!!
I was on an Alaskan cruise this summer and there were several coupons floating around for Fat Stan's near the cruise dock - buy a beer and keep the glass. I went in to the bar to enjoy a beer and my free glass before hopping back on my ship. The place was packed.

I ordered my beer and gave the bartender, CHAD, a $20. He quickly shoved my money in the till and gave me back $4. When I told him I had given him a $20, he said, no, I had given him a $10. When I asked him if he was sure, he responded, "If you don't believe me, you can take it our of my tip jar." Since I wasn't positive, I demured (being a polite, professional 35 year old woman). I sat at the bar drinking my beer and, within 5 minutes, saw him do the same thing to another couple. They paid for their $12 drinks with a $20 and he gave them $4 in change. When they called it to his attention, he said, "oops," and gave them the correct change. I asked him again if he was sure I gave him a $10, not a $20. He said he was. The guy to my left was a local and was chatting with Chad in between customers. At one point, the other guy working in the adjoining liquor store (owner?) came over and the guy to my left whispered to him, "Did you hear what she said? She said she paid with a $20." The other employee responded, "That's not good."

When I got back to my ship I immediately went to my stateroom and counted my money. Indeed, I had given CHAD a $20 to pay for my $6 beer. Like most of the ships, mine was only in town for a half day. That is a whole lot of tourists coming in to Fat Stan's for a beer and a glass in the brief time before boarding the ship at 12:30pm. I am confident they make a significant portion of their profts from short-changing preoccupied toursits in a hurry to catch their ship.

Hey Jesse! Can you hear me now?

The Younger Brothers (above) and the James Gang didn't have cellphones to coordinate their foiled 1876 Northfield Bank Robbery, but if they had, they may have improved their outcome.
We watched the reenactment of the famous bank robbery at the Defeat of Jesse James Days in Northfield today. Bought our buttons, enjoyed the experience, even in the brutal heat. Glad we weren't wearing boots and dusters or the billowy outfits on the left. We made a movie with the new camera. Lots of yelling, gunshots and running horses. Our very own western. Watch for it.

Now we know for sure. This is the actual bank.

New sheriff at Southwest Newspapers

Stan enjoyed a nice visit with Bill Davis at Southwest Newspapers in Shakopee this morning. Bill's the new Group Publisher, (pictured above with a grandson). He's rented a house for the time being in Eden Prairie. Very personable, he's taken over a position that Stan once filled, so there was lots to talk about. Good luck, Bill.

Actually, it sorta works. . .

Neighbor Greg Collier briefly loaned Joe Daly this 

fun, economical solution to male pattern baldness, but we all agreed Joe still looks better as the handsome, natural man he is.

After dinner tonight

It's the first Wednesday of the month so as customary the residents of Abbey Point gathered this evening at the clubhouse to break bread and exchange views and experiences.
At the conclusion of the evening, our Norwegian neighbor with the impossibly-great head of hair was called upon to pronounce a benediction. He did not disappoint.

Wes Anderson

"Ole," Wes began, "once had a job at the Gedney Pickle Plant in Chaska.
"One day he came home from work at 2:30 in the afternoon. His wife, Lena, noticed this and said 'Ole, vy are you home from verk so early?'
"I got my winkie in the pickle slicer."
"'Oh my, that's terrible,' Lena said. 'What happened to the pickle slicer?'
"Oh,' Ole said.  'She got fired too.'"

(Wes Anderson appears nightly at The Tarmac Lounge on Abbey Point.)

We heart Aldi's

 Stan and his nephew, Steve, love shopping for groceries at Aldi's, the no frills little store a few blocks away from Steve's condo on Lake Street. The deals are spectacular (they boast that they're "impossible") -- you can get a basket of fresh groceries at very fair prices -- and the people watching never disappoints, but our favorite feature is the quirky shopping cart security system.
When you come into the store, you free up a chained cart by slipping a quarter into its lock. That quarter stays locked in the cart as you trundle through the store, through the check out and into the parking lot. You can't get your quarter released until you return the cart to where you found it and lock it up for the next shopper.
From what we can tell, this simple little two-bit idea works. You don't see any loose, abandoned carts in the parking lot, vulnerable to theft, with an employee rounding them up.
And the best part -- when cheapskate Stan or Steve pushes the cart back to its original position to redeem the shiny quarter, it feels like getting a little parting bonus -- even though it's just your own darn quarter coming back to you.
Genius, I tell ya. Genius.

The amazing shopping cart security system.
See the quarter? Can't have it yet. Put that cart back where you found it!

Shearer men make exciting discovery. . .

Bill and Zachary Shearer are staying in Ohio, closing up their Aunt Marilyn's estate. While there, shopping for necessities at the local grocery, they were delighted to discover this exciting product: Shearer's Krazi Curls!
No word on whether Krazi Curls are produced by a long-lost Ohio relative.

An afternoon in Stillwater

Kim and Sosie on a staircase to the upper reaches of Stillwater
The old lift bridge is in the up position, stopping Wisconsin traffic

 We got a first-person tour from a Stillwater resident today, when Virg and his friend, Kim, hosted us for a most enjoyable afternoon in this historic, picturesque village.
We looked over the St. Croix valley, watched the big paddle boats crammed with funseekers go under the iconic raised bridge; glimpsed the new controversial bridge finally under construction downstream.

It was cool today by the river, a welcome
respite from too much hot weather.

Many homeowners were outside this Sunday, using the perfect weather to paint or touch-up their multi-colored Victorian homes, some of them mansion-sized Bed and Breakfasts, all of them trimmed to the nines.
A wedding was underway on the Pine Street courthouse steps with a view of the busy, touristy downtown, with its antiques, ice cream and fudge. We browsed a used book store and almost took home a World War II book on the secret life of FDR. We thumbed through bins at a consignment shop, searching for more classic Cream of Wheat advertisements featuring Kathleen's late brother-in-law modeling for his commercial artist father. Didn't find any this trip.
We looked for Kathleen's father's home at 305 Stillwater Avenue and eventually found it, thanks to a combination of Google, GPS, trial and error, and dead reckoning.

Grilled Scallop Salad
Mixed greens tossed with
grilled asparagas and sundried
tomatoes tossed in a champagne
vinaigrette, topped with two skewers
of grilled scallops -- $16

Sosie sponsored a nice dinner for the five of us at the Dock Cafe; we claimed a riverside table and watched the restaurant's liveried gondoliers paddle by, bearing an assortment of romantics.
Our entrees delighted, the menu may be limited, but we agreed the food was excellent, set off by a nice fruity Zinfandel, nurtured somewhere in Sonoma near Sosie's home base.
It was a great opportunity to get acquainted with a new friend, get chauffeured around town by Virg, and revisit a favorite and memorable place on the river.

Leonard O. Neilson, Kathleen's Dad, grew up here.

Road trip

Sosie's in town, so it wouldn't be right to not take some kind of road trip somewhere. A Sunday drive to Stillwater should be just the ticket. They may not have the world's largest ball of twine, but there's still plenty to recommend it.